And you know that investment funds can be a good place to save your money over the long term.

But which funds are right for you?

There are hundreds of investment funds to choose from each with their own approach.

You can choose between asset classes like property or equities.

Countries from Ireland to China and beyond.

Sectors such as energy or technology.

All with different levels of risk and reward.

With so many things to consider, it can be hard to know where to start.

And once you have decided which funds to invest in, you need to keep an eye on how they’re performing.

But Standard Life makes investment choice easier with MyFolio funds.

Standard Life Investments have created a range of readymade, risk-based funds.

There are five MyFolio funds to choose from, and each has a different risk level.

These funds contain a range of investments designed to maximise potential returns for your chosen level of risk.

Each MyFolio fund holds a combination of lower risk assets, such as cash and bonds,

and higher risk assets, such as equities and property.

You can invest in MyFolio funds through Standard Life’s range of pensions, savings and investment products.

And if your circumstances change, it’s easy to switch between the five MyFolio funds.

Once you’ve invested your money, you can be confident that our fund managers ensure that the fund stays within the appropriate risk level and our fund managers are constantly monitoring the markets, so that they can quickly take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

Here at Standard Life we learn by listening to our advisers. So we invited two of them to tell us about their experiences with MyFolio. Rachel Reid, Director, OpesFidelio Ireland and Karl Daly, Director, Metis Ireland

Why do you recommend MyFolio to your clients?Karl Daly: We are firm believers that when people invest money they need diversification and they need to have their money spread across a range of asset classes. Standard Life were first to come to the market with that philosophy and that idea, and we’ve used it from the very beginning and we still believe in it.

How do you use MyFolio? Rachel Reid: We use MyFolio as a default investment strategy for clients, what we like about it is that it correlates risk to the actual appetite and aptitude of risk for a client.Karl Daly: With the MyFolio Solutions they in most instances will look after a lot of the business, or a lot of the requirement for our investment clients. That allows us then to do our jobs more efficiently, that we’re not constructing portfolios all the time.

What’s different about MyFolio?Rachel Reid: What would make it stand out is actually the management process and the key aspect would be the strategic asset allocation- that it’s not just lying with Standard Life, that they’re using Moody’s as well and obviously that it’s being reviewed on a quarterly basis. I suppose within the industry some investment houses would be using the ESMA ratings whereas with Moody’s they would be using the 10 years so we ourselves would feel from a house view that that is far more beneficial for a client and that then any risk rated portfolios are actually true to their form and they’re not falling outside of those on a regular basis.

MyFolio Market or MyFolio Active?Karl Daly: We can give passive management and active management within the range of the MyFolio funds, so if we go back to our philosophy of having the core holding for a client being a passive base, MyFolio can cater for that.

Rachel Reid: When you’re moving up to slightly higher, larger sums of investment clients want a little bit of different exposure and by them moving into the Active you’re still getting the investment expertise of Standard Life but not incurring a huge extra charge for clients and certainly blending the two, mixing the two portfolios we have found very effective and is something that clients really really like.

Why choose Standard Life?Karl Daly: Standard Life have a very very strong track record in active management, that means that we can put our clients into a product or a fund that we’re comfortable with and confident about.Rachel Reid: They’re actually listening to Brokers, because they feel that we are effectively their sales arm- not just purely on merit of cost or on fund performance that you’re looking at a broader suite across the board in relation to customer service as well.

Assess your clients' attitude to risk

With the help of the Risk Questionnaire, you with your clients' decide on the most suitable risk profile and select the appropriate MyFolio fund - the rebalancing and monitoring are all taken care of, giving you more time to spend with your client.

The risk questionnaire is not suitable for clients who are unwilling to take any investment risk.

Choosing the right MyFolio fund

Once you have decided which is the appropriate risk level for your clients', you just need to select a preferred investment style or a blend of both.

MyFolio Active

These are actively managed funds that are looked after by Standard Life Investments.

MyFolio Market

These are mainly passively managed funds which are looked after by Vanguard and Standard Life Investments.

Blending

You can mix investment styles for funds of the same risk level, confident that your clients’ portfolios will stay within their chosen risk profile. This gives you the ability to create unique investment portfolios.

And you know that investment funds can be a good place to save your money over the long term.

But which funds are right for you?

There are hundreds of investment funds to choose from each with their own approach.

You can choose between asset classes like property or equities.

Countries from Ireland to China and beyond.

Sectors such as energy or technology.

All with different levels of risk and reward.

With so many things to consider, it can be hard to know where to start.

And once you have decided which funds to invest in, you need to keep an eye on how they’re performing.

But Standard Life makes investment choice easier with MyFolio funds.

Standard Life Investments have created a range of readymade, risk-based funds.

There are five MyFolio funds to choose from, and each has a different risk level.

These funds contain a range of investments designed to maximise potential returns for your chosen level of risk.

Each MyFolio fund holds a combination of lower risk assets, such as cash and bonds,

and higher risk assets, such as equities and property.

You can invest in MyFolio funds through Standard Life’s range of pensions, savings and investment products.

And if your circumstances change, it’s easy to switch between the five MyFolio funds.

Once you’ve invested your money, you can be confident that our fund managers ensure that the fund stays within the appropriate risk level and our fund managers are constantly monitoring the markets, so that they can quickly take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

And you know that investment funds can be a good place to save your money over the long term.

But which funds are right for you?

There are hundreds of investment funds to choose from each with their own approach.

You can choose between asset classes like property or equities.

Countries from Ireland to China and beyond.

Sectors such as energy or technology.

All with different levels of risk and reward.

With so many things to consider, it can be hard to know where to start.

And once you have decided which funds to invest in, you need to keep an eye on how they’re performing.

But Standard Life makes investment choice easier with MyFolio funds.

Standard Life Investments have created a range of readymade, risk-based funds.

There are five MyFolio funds to choose from, and each has a different risk level.

These funds contain a range of investments designed to maximise potential returns for your chosen level of risk.

Each MyFolio fund holds a combination of lower risk assets, such as cash and bonds,

and higher risk assets, such as equities and property.

You can invest in MyFolio funds through Standard Life’s range of pensions, savings and investment products.

And if your circumstances change, it’s easy to switch between the five MyFolio funds.

Once you’ve invested your money, you can be confident that our fund managers ensure that the fund stays within the appropriate risk level and our fund managers are constantly monitoring the markets, so that they can quickly take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

MyFolio Lookthrough

Client View

The information on brokerzone.ie is for financial advisers only and must not be relied on by anyone else. If you are not a financial adviser, go to www.standardlife.ie for information about our products and services.